Average Christmas Gift Price

Posted on by Forest in Saving Money & Finances

Average Christmas Gift Price – Lets face it, Christmas is probably way more expensive than a) it should be and b) many of us can afford. Due to expectations of high cost gifts, and the fact that many families are struggling, credit card debt rises and savings dry up like a river in a never ending summer. This year, with many new gadgets on the market, I imagine the average gift price will go up huge amounts yet again!

A Look At The Average Christmas Gift Prices And Spending

Average Christmas Gift Price

With technology items like the iPad, iPhone 4s, Kindle Fire, Xbox Kinnect and who knows how many overpriced plastic kids toys costs are very high this year. Whatever happened to people being happy with an orange and a lump of coal!

In this article i’m going to take a look at some statistics and try to get an idea of how much things are going to cost this year, I can’t find a definitive one size fits all answer to the ‘average gift price’ but we can look into different areas.

The average amount spent on gifts

According to a phone survey conducted by the American Research Group (here) consumers in the USA planned to spend $658 for Xmas 2010. That was a 58% jump from the same survey conducted in 2009. Now it may not jump as much this year because many of the gifts that were popular last year are popular again this year such as the iPad, the Amazon Kindle and Xbox360, although that now has Kinnect to consider too.

StatsCanada in its yearly Christmas By the Numbers Articles last reported that Canadian consumers spent $13.2 billion in December 2009 in a survey of large retailers. The 2006 census said there was 31,612,897 so if we estimate that to be at around 33,000,000 for Dec 2010 each Canadian would have spent $400 each.

In the UK a HSBC Survey (here) found that Brits planned to spend £378 (approx $600) in gifts for 2011.

Bestselling Toys Average Price

Of course Christmas is all about the kids, and their demands! Amazon, probably the largest online retailer, shifts a lot of toys each year. So let’s look at their Holiday Toy List and the average price of the current top 15 bestsellers (20 Nov 2011).

• SPY NET: Stealth Video Glasses – $29.99
• Crayola Glow Book – $14.99
• Cloud b Twilight Constellation Night Light, Turtle – $22.49
• Razor A Kick Scooter – $25.09
• Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever – $7.66
• Matchbox Smokey The Fire Truck – $44.99
• LEGO Ultimate Building Set – 405 Pieces (6166) – $26.97
• FIJIT Friends Sage Interactive Toy – $42.99
• Singing Machine SML-383 Portable CDG Player Karaoke… – $49.97
• Angry Birds: Knock On Wood Game – $32.50
• Amazon.com Gift Card – $25 (Snowboard design) – $25.00
• Innovation First Hexbug Hive Playset – $28.99
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 (+ UltraViolet… – $13.99
• Vtech – InnoTab Interactive Learning Tablet – Pink – $79.00
• Kidkraft Suite Elite Kitchen – $114.97
• AVERAGE PRICE: $37.31

Bestselling Tablets Average Price

Obviously with the iPad at the top end and the Kindle Fire and Nook at the lower end tablets are a big thing this year and I would imagine will be the bestselling overall Christmas gift despite them being an expensive high-end consumer good. So here are Amazon’s top 10 bestselling tablets (Nov 20 2011) and the standard Kindle WiFi Touch added to the mix (I think this counts as a tablet for many).

• Kindle Fire, Full Color 7″ Multi-touch Display, Wi-Fi by Amazon – $199.00
• HP TouchPad Wi-Fi 32 GB 9.7-Inch Tablet Computer – $274.29
• MOTOROLA XOOM Android Tablet (10.1-Inch, 32GB, Wi-Fi) – $391.99
• Apple iPad 2 Tablet (16GB, Wifi,) NEWEST MODEL – from $499.89
• Samsung Galaxy Tab (10.1-Inch, 16GB, Wi-Fi) – $486.95
• Apple iPad 2 MC770LL/A Tablet (32GB, Wifi, Black) NEWEST MODEL – from $609.00
• Toshiba Thrive 10.1-Inch 16 GB Android Tablet AT105-T1016 – $365.65
• PanDigital 72-70FW 7-Inch Tablet Computer – White (Remanufactured) – $77.95
• Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus 16GB (Dual Core, Universal Remote, WiFi) – $395.99
• Samsung Galaxy Tab (10.1-Inch, 32GB, Wi-Fi) – $579.95
• Amazon Kindle Touch With Special Offers – $99
• AVERAGE PRICE: $361.79

Average Motion Control Games Console Price

All major consoles now have a ‘motion-control’ option with the Playstation Move, improved Wii and of course controller-less gaming from Xbox Kinnect. Here are the prices for the console and motion control from Amazon (Nov 20 2011).

• Xbox 360 4GB Console with Kinect by Microsoft - $298.85
• PlayStation 3 320GB System/PlayStation Move Bundle - $349.99
• Wii Console with Mario Kart Wii Bundle – Black by Nintendo - $149.99
• AVERAGE PRICE: $266.28

Average Christmas Gift Price

So that’s a basic roundup, not cheap at all! I find it kind of sad that so much pressure is on for people to spend these sums of money for the holidays and wish that a campaign could build enough momentum to cut people’s spending. Maybe a high-tech gadget of games machine would be cool but only if purchased as the sole gift for a close person or teenager. If we can all try to cut back a bit this Christmas (I know economists would disagree) then maybe we will be able to start on a more steady footing next year and make it a year of recovery. Wouldn’t that be a great priceless gift!

I’d love to know what you are purchasing this year and if you are finding your spending rising? Also if you have any other comments don’t b shy and join the discussion below.

Thanks for reading – Average Christmas Gift Price

Tags: average games console price, average tablet price, average toy price, bestselling gifts, bestselling toys, christmas gift prices, christmas gifts, cost of christmas